American Idol: Season 10, Episode 9 :: Hollywood Week

Hollywood week continues on American Idol Season 10 with the hardest round of all—the group round. Kidzworld takes a look at episode 9, which aired February 16.

Courtesy of Fox

Group Round

Group round. For ten seasons it has been the most gruelling part of the American Idol auditions. And this season was no exception. The judges switched the rules this year, announcing at the end of day 2 that each group had to have members from day 1 and day 2. This caused pandemonium, since the majority of the day 1 contestants had already formed groups and began rehearsing. This game changer had many of the contestants spending most of the night searching for groups.

The Duet

Tiffany Rios had the most trouble finding a group thanks to her unsportsmanlike comment during the first day of Hollywood auditions. Unfortunately for her, that didn’t win her any fans amongst the other contestants, and she was forced to form her own group. She wound up performing a duet with an unlucky contestant who didn’t want Tiffany to be left out. Bad choice! Because they were both sent packing.

Mercy

It was a long night for 15 year old Jaycee Badeaux, who was kicked out of his group and forced to find another. Fortunately, Brett Lowenstern’s group needed a day 2 member and they welcomed him into their group. Jaycee had never heard the song that they were performing—Mercy. But he gave it his all, adlibbing when he forgot the lyrics. Even though Randy Jackson’s number one rule is “don’t forget the lyrics,” he and the judges let him have a pass due to his unfortunate circumstances the previous night.

Jaycee Badeaux's Group Audition

Picking Favorites

The next day, many of the remaining 100 contestants delivered unforgettable solo performances making it hard for the judges to cut the group in half. After the solos, the judges divided them into four groups of 25. Two groups stayed and two were sent home. Most of the early favorites were among those who get to stay, including:

Jaycee Badeaux

Scotty McCreery

Haley Reinhart

Ashton Jones

Chris Medina

Lauren Alania

Jacob Lusk

Brett Lowenstern

Robbie Rosen

Casey Abrams

Next week, the fifty remaining contestants will perform songs from the Beatles in hopes of making the top 24!